Re: We should require AI disclosure

Guus der Kinderen <[email protected]> Wed, 8 Jul 2026 13:09:14 +0200
Newsgroups gmane.network.jabber.standards-jig
Message-ID <CAMJaV9=Ny9tqG4dxLjZpRqZDvvK8=pnj4mjCyoHz1bcM4FBD5A@mail.gmail.com>
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Hi Ralph,

I agree Council is not fully responsible, and I'd support saying so
explicitly. However, I think that XEP-0001 is already quite explicit in
this (requiring rough consensus, running code, Council approval reads like
the "shared responsibility" that we're talking about). I'm not sure there's
a gap.

If you think the current _understanding_ differs from the current text,
that seems worth saying out loud on the list.

Kind regards,

  Guus

On Wed, Jul 8, 2026 at 12:47=E2=80=AFPM Ralph Meijer <[email protected]> wrote:

> On 08/07/2026 11.45, Guus der Kinderen wrote:
> > Hi Ralph,
> >
> > Two things:
> >
> > First on the review gate: Dave has made the point that it sits too
> > early, and you've added that XEPs used to be changed by discussing
> > with the author rather than by PR. Moving that gate later (light
> > review at intake, with the deeper reading happening as people actually
> > engage with a spec) is a change we could actually make. It has the
> > property that nothing gets a careful reading until someone cares
> > enough to give it one, which is exactly the wrong incentive for anyone
> > submitting in volume. It would help whether or not that volume
> > materialises. It doesn't require us to agree about AI at all. Before
> > committing to it, though, I'd want to understand why we moved in the
> > other direction in the first place. Presumably it served some purpose.
> I think because PRs (in GitHub) from interaction perspective is much
> easier to deal with and coders are familiar with it. I.e. when you
> submit a PR, you have a malleable chain of modifications (to improve the
> change during the interactive review process), you can comment on
> specific parts of those modifications, mark when particular comments are
> resolved, etc., and you can preserve that process both in the repository
> (if you do branch merges) and in GitHub's ticketing system.
>
> The prior mechanism was mostly discussing changes on this list
> (preferably) and in private and public conversations on IRC (initially)
> and XMPP.
>
> I do not think that lightening the triage affects submission volume,
> though. I also assume in all my previous comments that AI-assisted
> contributions are still done by humans and not automated as well.
> Lightening the triage does provide a way to handle increased volume.
>
> > Second: you've twice invited a PR against XEP-0143 using your
> > phrasing. I've opened one: https://github.com/xsf/xeps/pull/1552. It's
> > your sentence, in the submission process rather than the
> > pre-submission advice, since the latter is explicitly advisory. It's
> > deliberately not AI-specific and it doesn't settle anything else here.
> > I'd rather it merged on its own merits than became a proxy for the
> > wider argument.
> Thanks for the PR. As the mediate author / human prompter, it would be
> weird to approve the change, but I do support it.
>
> > You asked Goffi why a human-authored document wouldn't need the same
> > thoroughness. I think that's unfair to him. Reviewers have always read
> > with priors. You read a new contributor more carefully than a familiar
> > one, and for a familiar contributor you may give more attention to
> > certain aspects than to others. Knowing a submission came from an LLM
> > tells you to go and check the references. That's useful information,
> > if you have it. My objection isn't that disclosure would tell us
> > nothing, it's that I don't expect it to be accurate in the cases where
> > it matters most. Those are separate arguments, and I think they've
> > been getting mixed up.
> Right, individuals gather reputation. Does a known author that increases
> its use of AI in the generation of their contribution lower their
> reputation because of that? I personally expect from any known
> contributor that the quality of their work does not decrease.
>
> Does / should disclosure materially affect the review process for
> newcomers? If so, how can you trust their disclosure one way or the other=
?
>
> Also, I don't think that it is the role of a reviewer (in general,
> including code) to become experts on all details of contributions. This
> includes the XMPP Council. Like in the IETF, the responsibility for the
> quality and correctness of a given specification is shared between the
> authors, the Standards-JIG, and the Council. Besides managing our
> standards process, the Council exists to provide a set of people that
> have the specific task to provide technical advice and in general review
> contributions, on top of the wider community view. A dedicated
> collection of additional eyes, so to say.
>
> If the current understanding is that the Council is fully responsible
> for the outcome, then I believe that is undesirable and we need to make
> the role of the Council more explicit in this regard.
>
> ralphm
> _______________________________________________
> Standards mailing list -- [email protected]
> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
>

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<div dir=3D"ltr">Hi Ralph,<br><br>I agree Council is not fully responsible,=
 and I&#39;d support saying so explicitly. However, I think that XEP-0001 i=
s already quite explicit in this (requiring rough consensus, running code, =
Council approval reads like the &quot;shared responsibility&quot; that we&#=
39;re talking about). I&#39;m not sure there&#39;s a gap.<br><br>If you thi=
nk the current _understanding_ differs from the current text, that seems wo=
rth saying out loud on the list.<br><br>Kind regards,<br><br>=C2=A0 Guus</d=
iv><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir=3D"ltr" cl=
ass=3D"gmail_attr">On Wed, Jul 8, 2026 at 12:47=E2=80=AFPM Ralph Meijer &lt=
;<a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><bloc=
kquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:=
1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">On 08/07/2026 11.45, Guus der =
Kinderen wrote:<br>
&gt; Hi Ralph,<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; Two things:<br>
&gt;<br>
&gt; First on the review gate: Dave has made the point that it sits too <br=
>
&gt; early, and you&#39;ve added that XEPs used to be changed by discussing=
 <br>
&gt; with the author rather than by PR. Moving that gate later (light <br>
&gt; review at intake, with the deeper reading happening as people actually=
 <br>
&gt; engage with a spec) is a change we could actually make. It has the <br=
>
&gt; property that nothing gets a careful reading until someone cares <br>
&gt; enough to give it one, which is exactly the wrong incentive for anyone=
 <br>
&gt; submitting in volume. It would help whether or not that volume <br>
&gt; materialises. It doesn&#39;t require us to agree about AI at all. Befo=
re <br>
&gt; committing to it, though, I&#39;d want to understand why we moved in t=
he <br>
&gt; other direction in the first place. Presumably it served some purpose.=
<br>
I think because PRs (in GitHub) from interaction perspective is much <br>
easier to deal with and coders are familiar with it. I.e. when you <br>
submit a PR, you have a malleable chain of modifications (to improve the <b=
r>
change during the interactive review process), you can comment on <br>
specific parts of those modifications, mark when particular comments are <b=
r>
resolved, etc., and you can preserve that process both in the repository <b=
r>
(if you do branch merges) and in GitHub&#39;s ticketing system.<br>
<br>
The prior mechanism was mostly discussing changes on this list <br>
(preferably) and in private and public conversations on IRC (initially) <br=
>
and XMPP.<br>
<br>
I do not think that lightening the triage affects submission volume, <br>
though. I also assume in all my previous comments that AI-assisted <br>
contributions are still done by humans and not automated as well. <br>
Lightening the triage does provide a way to handle increased volume.<br>
<br>
&gt; Second: you&#39;ve twice invited a PR against XEP-0143 using your <br>
&gt; phrasing. I&#39;ve opened one: <a href=3D"https://github.com/xsf/xeps/=
pull/1552" rel=3D"noreferrer" target=3D"_blank">https://github.com/xsf/xeps=
/pull/1552</a>. It&#39;s <br>
&gt; your sentence, in the submission process rather than the <br>
&gt; pre-submission advice, since the latter is explicitly advisory. It&#39=
;s <br>
&gt; deliberately not AI-specific and it doesn&#39;t settle anything else h=
ere. <br>
&gt; I&#39;d rather it merged on its own merits than became a proxy for the=
 <br>
&gt; wider argument.<br>
Thanks for the PR. As the mediate author / human prompter, it would be <br>
weird to approve the change, but I do support it.<br>
<br>
&gt; You asked Goffi why a human-authored document wouldn&#39;t need the sa=
me <br>
&gt; thoroughness. I think that&#39;s unfair to him. Reviewers have always =
read <br>
&gt; with priors. You read a new contributor more carefully than a familiar=
 <br>
&gt; one, and for a familiar contributor you may give more attention to <br=
>
&gt; certain aspects than to others. Knowing a submission came from an LLM =
<br>
&gt; tells you to go and check the references. That&#39;s useful informatio=
n, <br>
&gt; if you have it. My objection isn&#39;t that disclosure would tell us <=
br>
&gt; nothing, it&#39;s that I don&#39;t expect it to be accurate in the cas=
es where <br>
&gt; it matters most. Those are separate arguments, and I think they&#39;ve=
 <br>
&gt; been getting mixed up.<br>
Right, individuals gather reputation. Does a known author that increases <b=
r>
its use of AI in the generation of their contribution lower their <br>
reputation because of that? I personally expect from any known <br>
contributor that the quality of their work does not decrease.<br>
<br>
Does / should disclosure materially affect the review process for <br>
newcomers? If so, how can you trust their disclosure one way or the other?<=
br>
<br>
Also, I don&#39;t think that it is the role of a reviewer (in general, <br>
including code) to become experts on all details of contributions. This <br=
>
includes the XMPP Council. Like in the IETF, the responsibility for the <br=
>
quality and correctness of a given specification is shared between the <br>
authors, the Standards-JIG, and the Council. Besides managing our <br>
standards process, the Council exists to provide a set of people that <br>
have the specific task to provide technical advice and in general review <b=
r>
contributions, on top of the wider community view. A dedicated <br>
collection of additional eyes, so to say.<br>
<br>
If the current understanding is that the Council is fully responsible <br>
for the outcome, then I believe that is undesirable and we need to make <br=
>
the role of the Council more explicit in this regard.<br>
<br>
ralphm<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Standards mailing list -- <a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]" target=3D"_=
blank">[email protected]</a><br>
To unsubscribe send an email to <a href=3D"mailto:[email protected]"=
 target=3D"_blank">[email protected]</a><br>
</blockquote></div>

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